The Price of Humanity
by SweetHawthorn
Summary: What if Ace sold his soul and became a l'Cie for the sake of Suzaku? What happens then to Deuce who watches the love of her life slowly lose his own sense of self? A really short one shot. AU. Contains SPOILERS.


The Battle of Judecca in the Year 842. That was the turning point in Ace's life. In fact, it affected not only Ace, but Class 0 as a whole…

It was a critical time for Suzaku. The Kingdom of Concordia had allied itself with the Milites Empire, driving the Suzaku Fiefdom of Rubrum to its limits. Class 0 had been assigned to assist in the two-pronged battle against both Concordia and Milites.

On board the airship taking them to Judecca, where the battle against Concordia was raging on, Ace stared at the horizon. Dragons swarmed the skies in countless numbers, pitting themselves against Suzaku's airships like ants swarming sugar-coated candies. Gritting his teeth, he signaled his classmates to get to the deck and prepare themselves for battle.

There they took down dragons after dragons, and yet the assaults barely ceased. Their panic, however, did not escalate until they caught sight of a massive blue dragon approaching them. This dragon was no ordinary dragon. She is Souryuu, a l'Cie of the Souryuu Crystal supporting the Kingdom of Concordia.

L'Cies are extraordinarily powerful beings bound to cater to the whims of their respective Crystals. Class 0 knew full well how hard it is to defeat a l'Cie, let alone one as huge as this.

Their flicker of hope was, however, reignited at the sight of a flaming pair of wings which streaked through the skies, charging right at the gargantuan dragon. That, they knew, was Zhuyu; the Suzaku Crystal's very own l'Cie.

Trying their hardest to keep their focus on their own battles, Class 0 witnessed Zhuyu's tiny figure clash time and again with Souryuu. Enraged, Souryuu breathed ice onto the battlefield, freezing a number of airships and dragons, as well as changing the whole terrain into that of ice crystals.

The airship Class 0 was on was one of the airship casualties in Souryuu's icy breath. Picking themselves up from the floor of the deck, they could see a path out of the ice crystals being formed ahead of them.

'Let's go,' Ace commanded. His classmates, Cater, Deuce, Nine, Queen, Sice and Seven all acknowledged his leadership and followed him down the frozen path.

Their trail was not a smooth one. For apart from dragons, the Souryuu army commanded monsters as well. Bombs, behemoths and flans were among those blocking their paths. High above them, the endless horde of dragons too joined in the fray.

'This is insane!' Cater exclaimed, 'How are we going to get past all these?'

'Maybe it will cease if Zhuyu can take down that dragon,' Queen suggested half-heartedly.

They focused all their might on the battlefield that lay ahead of them, so much so that they did not realize it when Zhuyu ceased his assaults on the mighty blue dragon. They all gave involuntary gasps when Zhuyu landed in front of them, efficiently obliterating every enemy in their area.

'Sir!?' Queen almost shrieked in her surprise. 'What are you doing here!?'

Zhuyu silently eyed the members of Class 0 one by one, seemingly oblivious to Queen's question or their bewildered stares. When his eyes fell on Ace, he finally whispered, 'The Crystal has given me a new Focus. You have been chosen to be the new l'Cie.'

'What!?' Everyone exclaimed at the same time. They could hardly believe their ears.

Ace quickly regained his composure and asked, 'Why me? Why the sudden Focus?'

Zhuyu shook his head as he said, 'No one can question the Crystal's will. There's no time. Will you be willing to serve the Crystal and our nation?'

Ace was speechless. Such a great decision to make and there's hardly enough time. His thoughts drifted onto the closest thing to him, the war ahead. So many of his fellow countrymen were dying, Suzaku was at a disadvantage. With the power of a l'Cie, however…

'I'll do it,' Ace firmly replied much to the astonishment of his fellow classmates. They all gasped and gaped at him as Zhuyu's hand shone in a bright shade of vermilion and reached it out to Ace. Following suit, Ace's arm soon bore the mark of a l'Cie as his eyes glowed scarlet.

With a satisfied smile on his rugged face, Zhuyu began to crystallize from his feet up. The fate of a l'Cie who has completed his focus was eternal life… in the form of a crystal. In essence, being a l'Cie equates a slow death for if a l'Cie defies his focus, he will be nothing more than a corpse.

Tears welled up in the girls' eyes as Zhuyu crystallizes. It was not only Zhuyu they were mourning for, but even more so, for Ace. They knew the fate that awaits him, slowly losing his mind in servitude of the crystal. In a few short months, he would be nothing more than a soulless manifestation of the Crystal's will.

But the shock did not come greater for anyone but Deuce. She could not barricade her tears any longer as Ace commanded them to move forward whilst he streaked into the sky with the same pair of flaming wings Zhuyu had earlier… towards Souryuu.

'Deuce,' Queen said, worried, 'Are you all right?'

'Yes…' Deuce sobbed, 'I'll be fine… We've got to finish this.' Steeling herself, Deuce began walking onwards while her classmates watched helplessly for a moment before following suit. It was so blatantly clear how hard this was for her; to watch the person she love sacrifice himself for their nation…

…

Ace's coronation as a l'Cie brought victory for Suzaku in that very battle while Caetuna, the other Suzaku l'Cie, brought back the same victory against Byakko in the west, at the cost of her own life. Nevertheless, Suzaku had much to celebrate about… and yet, nothing could dampen Class 0's mood even more.

When Ace was called forth by the Parliament one day, Class 0 discussed this unexpected twist in their assigned classroom.

'It's so hard to take in,' Eight admitted, 'that one day Ace won't be the Ace we now know anymore…'

'I don't want to lose Ace…' Cinque said grimly, a tear sliding down her cheek.

'Even though I've known him only for a while,' Rem said, 'I feel just as terrible about this.'

They all stopped their discussion when they caught sight of Deuce's pale face. It was as if she was petrified; as if her heart had lost her soul just as Ace had…

…

The days rolled by and Suzaku claimed victory after victory. The time soon came for the final confrontation against the Milites Empire, the host of the Byakko Crystal.

The army had been taken down; all that was left to do was confront their leader, Cid Aulstyne. As Ace and the rest of Class 0 made their way to Byakko's Parliament Building, their steps were halted by a man in a white tiger-shaped mask.

He was a l'Cie of Byakko, one of equal powers to Ace. With his eyes glowing red once more, Ace commanded the rest of the class to infiltrate the Parliament Building and force Cid to surrender while he fend off the l'Cie.

'Such arrogance,' the Byakko l'Cie hissed as he summoned his weapons… a pair of bolt-shaped rapiers.

Even though he has lost a huge part of his mind and heart, Ace could still recognize the enemy l'Cie's weapon of choice. It was his classmate, Machina's weapons. Unfortunately, recognizing them did not equate sympathy in the case of a l'Cie. His mind was no longer his own, and he could not make out anything in his head apart from the words ringing over and over again, 'destroy the enemy.'

They were no longer friends, nor were they humans anymore. The battle that followed was beastly and fierce, each fighting with the aim to kill. Before any of their classmates could prevent the battle from raging, it had already begun. Powerless to stop the power of a l'Cie, they could only watch helplessly as the former friends slashed at each other's throats.

'We've got to stop them!' Rem cried hysterically with Eight and Jack trying their best to hold her back. She would have been killed if she got in the way of Ace and Machina's battle.

Deuce, on the other hand, stood still as she desperately shouted inside her heart for the fighting to stop; for Ace to return to his former self; for Ace to return to her side…

'Ace… Ace… ACEEEEEEEE!' She screamed at the top of her lungs. All the desperation, the pain, the helplessness poured out into the most powerful scream she had ever produced. For a split second, Ace's red eyes turned back to his original blue as he turned to face her, seemingly knocked out of his trance.

He paid dearly for that split second of humanity.

With his concentration broken, one of Machina's bolt rapiers pierced him through the abdomen. The class screamed and gasped as Ace fell to the ground. The sight of his former friend lying lifeless in a pool of blood seemed to have struck Machina back to his senses as his mask slid off from his face. He knelt petrified some distance away from Ace, a look of indescribable fear and horror on his face.

Deuce had run immediately to Ace's side where he, with the last of his strength, gripped her hands tightly and said, 'Deuce… I'm glad… it's you I see… for the last time…'

'No…' Deuce sobbed, 'Don't say that… You'll be fine…'

'I know my limits…' he said, coughing out blood, 'Bring an end… to this war… don't… forget… me…' His last words were so faint that no one but Deuce could hear them. With that, the grip on her hand slackened as his body began to turn into crystal.

'No… NOOOO,' Deuce screamed, trying desperately in vain to stop the crystallization. When the crystallization was complete, he was no more than a crystal statue… a poignant reminder of the love she once had.

…

Arecia watched from afar. This experiment was another failure. There was no point in continuing this if one of her precious pawns is dead. With a twist of her hand, time began to rewind...


End file.
